Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: American Double 2014
| Prologue: Four days, four continents |
 |
Into position
Sometimes
memorable occasions kick off with a bang, causing instant excitement
for those directly involved and making everyone else sit up straight
and take notice. These, you might say, are the rocket-launch moments
in life. Other events appear to have a more hesitant approach to
setting themselves in motion, only later managing to build up some
sense of momentum. They remind me of a long, heavy train being gradually
coaxed into motion by its locomotive, or a babbling stream that
gives no hint of the mighty river that it will eventually turn into.
The odd thing about the initial phase of this latest 'big trip', the
third in a series of four during the last few months of 2014, was that
it exhibited characteristics of both types of start-up.
Before getting on with the main business of doing two back-to-back
road trips in different parts of the USA, I had agreed to join Bruce
in a preliminary bout of frequent-flyer whimsy that would see us
turning our backs on a straightforward transatlantic crossing in
favour of a seemingly madcap four-continent itinerary involving
Spain, Morocco and Qatar, as well as the UK and the US. (Yes, I
really did say Qatar - the one on the Arabian peninsula. Is there
another?
) By any standards, this was going to be an attention-grabbing start
to an American holiday. But what of today, Thursday 30 October 2014?
In spite of the ground to be covered during these first four days,
today's deceptively mundane objective was simply to get
myself as far as London's Heathrow Airport. The adrenaline rush
could be put on hold for one more day.
I
set out in the middle of the afternoon, having decided to use the
public transport option for getting to the airport. (With flights at
either end of the trip leaving and arriving at convenient hours, there
seemed little sense in paying to park my car for nearly three
weeks.) It was the sort of autumn day in Scotland where, with seven
weeks still to run until the winter solstice, daylight was already
at a premium. It wasn't raining as such, yet everything was soaking
wet - the kind of day where the air felt damp just walking through
it. My journey proceeded without a hitch and I arrived at Edinburgh
Airport very much on schedule, to find the place heaving. Fast-track
Security was my salvation, as indeed was the familiar territory of
the still relatively new British Airways Executive Lounge.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
I
was on the first bus from our remote stand to the north end of
Terminal 5, where I had to stand in the baggage hall for just two
minutes before the luggage from our flight started to appear. My
case was the fifth one out, making this an amazing performance for
Heathrow! I walked down the passageway to the Sofitel and texted
Bruce, who couldn't believe that I was standing in the lobby just
ten minutes after my flight's scheduled arrival time. Once I got
settled into the room where Bruce had been working for most of the
day, we went down to the attractive Sphere bar in the lobby, where
we had 'Manhattan' cocktails and a few light nibbles in the form of
olives and chicken Yakitori skewers.
In preparation for a hideously early start the next day, I had my shower before going to bed. This had been an undemanding day, but the pace would soon be cranked up a notch or two.